


of big belly burger and important conversations

by smoakoverwatch



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Conversations, F/M, Fluff, and the fact that my mind always wanders on the subway, dont blame me blame the weird as fuck promo they put out today, i have no clue, im rusty, just trying to post as much as i can before hiatus ends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 07:50:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12250116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoakoverwatch/pseuds/smoakoverwatch
Summary: When they return from Lian Yu, there's one conversation Oliver and Felicity keep putting off.





	of big belly burger and important conversations

**Author's Note:**

> So... this happened over a few hours, inspired by [that Big Belly Burger promo ](https://twitter.com/CW_Arrow/status/914897790743932928) earlier today. 
> 
> I really don't know what to say about this one. There's like three 5x20 parallels in here for some reason. Hope you like it.

 

Here's the thing about desperate, life-in-danger decisions:  
  
The fallout can sometimes be uncomfortable.  
  
Felicity and Oliver learn this when they return from the island. When the weight of Adrian Chase doesn’t press down anymore, when the curtain has lifted and they’re faced with all of the bold things they had said in the middle of a burning island.  
  
The kiss she had given “just in case.”  
  
His own desperate one when he found her on a blown up Lian Yu, almost beside himself in relief that despite Chases last word on earth, he did not lose Felicity after all.  
  
He held her close when he found her. Hugged her so tight her feet lifted off the ground. Whispered “I love you... I love you...” over and over again in her ear until his voice went hoarse.  
  
She responded in equal intensity, fingers digging into his neck as they embraced, and kissing him –god, the way she kissed him made him dizzy.  
  
Then the dust cleared.  
  
They returned back home.  
  
And there was an entire, well, island worth of things in between them once more.  
  
There was William.  
  
There was the undeniable fact that even before the events of Lian Yu, their relationship had been in a liminal space. Shy smiles at his party and tentatively holding hands had only been placeholders. Both of them had been in silent agreement that whatever they had worked through since being trapped in the bunker would have to wait.  
  
Well, the moment they’d put off for so long was here.  
  
When they returned to Star City, it didn’t take long until the entire team was business as usual. Sure, there were some differences. William, for one, made Oliver more careful in his schedule and work on the team. Felicity had revealed to their friends that, after the year she had, she felt ready to return to work again. The determination and spark in her eyes — something that was missing for so long — made Oliver’s chest swell with pride.  
  
So much else was going on. Rene wanted to get his daughter back. Lance had some things to work through with the Doppelgänger who looked like his dead daughter. Star City inevitably found itself sprinkled with villains that kept the team busy night in and night out.  
  
In all of it, the conversation Oliver and Felicity were long overdue for got pushed back, further and further. Some days they could barely get a word in with each other, and Felicity would catch Oliver’s longing stares to her with a sympathetic smile, as if to tell him that she shared his frustrations.  
  
Mercifully, luck found its way on their side eventually.  
  
Oliver didn’t even notice her come in at first. He thought he had the bunker to himself, and took the time to release some pent up emotions on a training dummy without having to deal with incessant questions from the other team members.  
  
“Oh, hey,” the voice behind him makes him stop his work out, “I thought you’d be down here.”  
  
He turns to Felicity, wiping the sweat off his brow absently.  
  
She looks tired, her limp ponytail and blazer thrown over her arm telling Oliver that she came straight from work. She waves the tablet in her hand. “Forgot this.”  
  
“Oh,” he says hoarsely.  
  
An awkward silence falls over them as he realizes he has nothing to say. He thinks she might turn around and leave as fast as she came, but her foot shuffled across the floor.  
  
She’s lingering.  
  
He takes it as the chance he’s been waiting for.  
  
“Felicity, I—“  
  
“I was thinking —“  
  
They both freeze, exchanging short chuckles. She smiles sheepishly.  
  
“Go ahead.”  
  
“I wanted to —“ strangely, when finally given the chance by the universe, the words he wants to say don’t come as easy as he’d hoped. “I just feel like, after everything that happened, we haven’t had a chance to — it feels like were kind of ...”  
  
Fuck, he’s blowing this.  
  
“Out of sync,” she finishes with a knowing smile.  
  
“Yeah,” he breathes out, his chest falling in relief.  
  
“I know what you mean,” her voice is almost sad as she sets her jacket down on a chair, “everything’s been so crazy, I feel like I haven’t had a minute to myself let alone for...”  
  
“Us.”  
  
She nods. “Us.”  
  
“Okay, lets — we have right now, let’s take a minute,” the words tumble out of his mouth, “let me just change out of these clothes, maybe, and we can —“  
  
His words are cut off by a loud succession of beeps from Felicity’s monitors.  
  
He curses in frustration.  
  
Felicity gives that same knowing smile as she walks over to her area, “to be continued,” she slides in her chair and reads the police alert, “we might need more hands for this one, let me call Rene and Dinah in.”  
  
Oliver doesn’t respond, instead walking towards his Green Arrow suit and sliding it off the mannequin.

The lair is silent as he slips the suit on and grabs his bow. Just as he walks to the exit, Felicity calls out behind him.

“Oliver?”

He turns at the sound. She looks uncertain as she hovers by the steps of the raised platform.

“I don’t have anything tomorrow after work,” she says simply, “come by. We’ll get some takeout. No interruptions.”

Oliver doesn’t even try and hide the smile that breaks out.

“Sounds perfect.”

* * *

They had planned for 4 p.m., but it wasn’t long until that got pushed back to 6.

“I’m really sorry, Oliver,” Felicity said tiredly into the phone around lunch time, “something came up and I’ll have to stay longer, but I promise we’re going to do this tonight,” pause, “and by this, I mean talking, obviously. And eating – eating _dinner_. I’ll just go. See you then.”

Oliver didn’t mind. He also didn’t mind the call that came later asking him to pick up dinner instead of her ordering in as planned (“I’m a terrible host, I know,” “Felicity, it’s fine.”). That’s why when 6 p.m. finally does roll around, he walks through the halls of Felicity’s loft with a large paper bag of Big Belly Burger, and more of a bounce in his step than usual.  

When she opens the door, Felicity wears a bright smile on her face. “Hey, you, it’s so good to see you after all this time.” She takes the bag from him and widens the door so he can step inside.

“I know,” he says as he walks in, “I feel like I’ve been seeing you but not –”

“Oh, Oliver,” he turns at the sound, and sees her with a serious expression on her face, “I was talking to the food.”

He laughs, feeling some of the nervous energy ebb away. He walks into the living room and pauses.

“Where’s all your…”

“Furniture?” Felicity speed walks into the bare space with a sheepish expression, “I’m kind of redecorating. I may have forgot to mention it.”

His eyes travel to the kitchen, where a half-made IKEA table sits in various parts. He makes a note to work on that later, if she'll let him.

“I didn’t think this through,” she says as he looks around, “I’m sorry, when I said you could come over I hadn’t even _thought_ about it and now we don’t really have a place to sit and –”

“Felicity,” he turns to her with a smile, “it’s fine. We can sit on the carpet. Just like old times.”

Felicity exhales a little, a soft smile growing as she remembers what he’s referring to. The late nights back in Ivy Town where they would drink wine and relax in front of the TV, but Felicity would be too worried about staining their new couches and have them settle in on the floor. It became something of a tradition that got left behind when they retuned to Star City.

(He tries very hard not to remember the last time they ate on the floor this past summer)

It doesn’t take them long to settle down on the plush area rug, and fall into easy conversation about their day.

It’s nice and familiar. Any fear Oliver had that they would be awkward falls away easily.

But it’s not what he came here to talk about.

He waits until Felicity polishes off her burger, crushing the checkered wrapper in her fist as she turns to him with a smile.

“We’ve put this off for long enough, haven’t we?” she asks.

Oliver can only nod.

“I don’t know… where to start…” he says carefully, “but after everything that’s happened, I wasn’t sure where we stood.”

Felicity curls her legs in and looks down. “I get that.”

“When you had said we could take it one step at a time…” Oliver’s voice drops down as his confidence leaves him high and dry, “did you mean that?”

“Oliver …” Felicity frowns and pushes her hair back, and instantly Oliver worries that he’s said the wrong thing, “when I said that, I had no _idea_ what was waiting for us on the other side. All I knew then is that I missed being with you,” she gives a shy shrug, “I still do.”

“I still do too,” Oliver moves the straw of his drink back and forth, “but Felicity I…”

This time she looks worried. She sits up straighter.

“Back then, I didn’t have William,” he finally says. His heart starts beating loudly in his ear as he finally, _finally_ gets to vocalize what has hung over him for weeks, “well, I did, but we didn’t know he would be living with me. If that changes things, I’d – I’d –”

“Oliver?”

“I know you didn’t sign up for this,” he can’t look at her anymore, instead focusing on a spot in the carpet, “if that changes things, I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Oliver,” this time, Felicity sounds angry. She shifts forward and takes the hands in his lap, “I love _you_ , and that means every part of you. _Especially_ William. Being a part of his life would mean the world to me.”

When Oliver finds the strength to look up, Felicity’s eyes shine with sincerity. But there’s something else there too.

“Felicity?”

Her eyes flicker down, long lashes brushing against her cheek.

“I mean that’s – that’s just how I feel. But I know it’s been a rough year for both of us… and I’d understand if you felt like things have changed too much to – you know, if you were just looking for a way to let me down easy –”

“Hey,” he puts a hand on her cheek so she can meet his eyes, “where is this coming from?”

“I just – you started talking about things changing, so I was worried –”

“Felicity,” he pulls her in close so that their legs brush against each other, “there’s nothing out there that could change how much I love you. You have to know that.”

She leans into his touch, eyes sliding shut. Her fingers trace up and down the wrist Oliver is holding her with.

Oliver takes his chance and gently guides Felicity’s face down onto his, pouring every emotion he can’t put into words into the kiss. She responds eagerly, closing the remaining gap between them.

He hears a rustle of paper as she shoves their Big Belly Burger wrappers out of the way and laughs against her lips, but it quickly dies when her mouth parts and he can taste the strawberry milkshake on her tongue.

It’s not long until his suit jacket gets pushed off his arms, falling alongside Felicity’s dress.

He can’t control the grin when his bare back hits the soft carpet and they lose themselves in each other after a year.

**Author's Note:**

> [so corny it belongs on a farm, right?]
> 
> thank you for reading!
> 
> twitter - smoakoverwatch  
> tumblr - overwatchandarrow


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